Although pure speculation, I believe three things about the retirement of the MD-80s

1. The DFW-AUS routes will be the last routes using the MD-80s
2. I'll be on the flight
3. It will be delayed

:)

Cheers.

+1 as I know SAT will be right there behind you!

Question though, any speculation on when AUS, SAT, STL and others would convert? Would we convert to 319's or other?

Who knows. That's sometime down in the future and any number of things can happen. Esp if the merger does indeed close there will be all kinds of network changes down the path. AA does not even know the answer to that yet, let alone any speculation here.

But, what is true is the MD-80 is less disadvantageous efficiency wise on short hall, so it makes sense that short haul routes will be the last to loose them.

MD-80's are still LAX-LAS (1x) and LAS-LAX (2x) also

MD-80's are flying out of SJC every day. I'm under the flight path - easy to spot. There are daily flights on MD80's to DFW and ORD for sure.

To DFW.

I have started moving business back to AA again after a long absence. Having essentially lived on MD80s for most of 1997-2003 in the MRTC days, and having endured Southwest's awful seat transition and decided that I want very little to do with it in the future... I was so pleased to sit in a real domestic seat - the AA MD80 seat with good shoulder room and MCE pitch (36"). I'm still not a fan of the 737-800s, but I am looking forward to spending more quality time with the Mad Dogs in 9-11 B/D for the forseeable future.

That being said, I agree with the earlier poster that anything in back of about row 25 of the plane is not a particularly pleasant experience. When I walked back to the lav, I was reminded of how noisy those buggers are in the back.

Take this with several grains of salt.....

While chatting with an FA aboard a vintage MD going from DFW to LAX last week, I commented about it's age. She mentioned to me that management had recently decided to "slow down" the retirement of the '80's to keep them in service longer.

Anyone else heard this rumor?

Definitely still here, I flew one two weeks ago. I know they're old but as I was flying with a companion, having a two seater to ourselves was nice as we didn't have to decide who got the middle or if we'd let someone sit between us and have to talk around that person. I know they're not the greatest aircraft but I kind of like them and I will miss them when they're gone.

+1 agreed. We have several from TUL-DFW and I recently flew them back and forth from PHL-DFW and DFW-LAS so they are still around for sure. The experience up front in F is excellent. Much better than the 738 as I prefer the seats better.

As long as you get MCE or F, they are solid experience.

Interesting how perspectives can be different. I don't consider coach since we don't fly there. For F, I find the seats considerably better on the 738. Seeing people using these, and trouble experienced by those of "larger dimension" I can see where such folks might prefer the MD-80. For those not of those dimensions, I would think that the 738 would be a hands down winner.

Cheers.

I much prefer the MD-80 over the 738. I fly both cabins and think the old MD-80s are just more comfortable. Especially if going with wife and baby the MCE pair is great for us. When alone I just find MD-80 more comfy and quieter.

I'm of the "smaller dimension" (height and weight), and I still say the older planes rule. To me, it definitely feels like there's more actual padding and suspension components in the seat (ie springs), whereas the newer seats seem to be just memory foam over a hard plastic chair.

So they might feel more comfortable to those who bring their own padding wherever they go! :p

Just saw that the MD-80s are being replaced with 319s from DFW-MTY. I consider that great news as I feared RJs.